Births
Johann Sebastian Bach – March 21, 1685
Son House – (Eddie James House, Jr.) – March 21, 1902
Vera Lynn (Vera Margaret Welch) – March 20, 1917
Nat “King” Cole (Nathaniel Adams Coles) – March 17, 1919
Ornette Coleman – March 19, 1930
Stephen Sondheim – March 22, 1930
Jerry Reed (Jerry Reed Hubbard) – March 20, 1937
Charlie Pride – March 18, 1938
Wilson Pickett – March 18, 1941
Jerry Jeff Walker (Ronald Clyde Crosby) – March 16, 1942
Vivian Stanshall – March 21, 1943
George Benson, Keith Relf – March 22, 1943
John Sebastian – March 17, 1944
Jeremy Clyde – March 21, 1944
Harry Vanda (Johannes Hendricus Jacob Vandenberg) – March 21, 1946
Andrew Lloyd Webber – March 21, 1948
Eddie Money (Edward Joseph Mahoney) – March 21, 1949
Carl Palmer – March 20, 1950
Roger Hodgson – March 21, 1950
Bill Frisell – March 18, 1951
Jimmie Vaughan – March 20, 1951
Billy Sheehan – March 19, 1953
Jerry Cantrell – March 18, 1966
Billy Corgan – March 17, 1967
Queen Latifah (Dana Elaine Owens) – March 18, 1970
Melissa Auf der Maur – March 17, 1972
Wolfgang Van Halen – March 16, 1991
Deaths
Tammi Terrell (Thomasina Winifred Montgomery) – March 16, 1970
T-Bone Walker (Aaron Thibeaux Walker) – March 16, 1975
Paul Kossoff – March 19, 1976
Randy Rhoads – March 19,1982
Leo Fender – March 21, 1991
Jeff Ward – March 19, 1993
John Phillips – March 18, 2001
Landmark Releases
1963 – The Beatles, Please Please Me; the Beach Boys, “Surfin’ USA”
1967 – Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Purple Haze”
1977 – The Clash, “White Riot”
Charts
1953 – Epitomizing the contemporary—if not entirely accurate—notion that pre-rock ’50s pop was dominated by novelty fluff, Patti Page’s “(How Much is) That Doggie in the Window?” goes to No. 1.
1961 – Elvis Presley’s “Surrender” tops the charts
1966 – Recorded at a hastily arranged session at Chicago’s Chess Studios in the midst of a hectic U.S. tour, the Yardbirds’ groundbreaking future-shock single “Shapes of Things” enters the U.S. charts.
1968 – Otis Redding’s “Dock of the Bay” becomes the first posthumous chart-topper of the rock era, enjoying a month-long stay at No. 1.
1970 – Simon and Garfunkel’s epochal, Grammy-winning single “Bridge Over Troubled Waters” tops the charts for six weeks and sells a million copies.
1971 – Released six months after her death, Janis Joplin’s “Me and Bobby McGee” becomes the second posthumous No. 1 single of the rock era.
1972 – Neil Young’s “Heart of Gold” becomes his only chart-topping single.
1975 – Led Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti is the country’s No. 1 album.
1984 – Van Halen’s “Jump” becomes their only chart-topper.
1986 – After a decade of recording and performing, Heart score their first No.1 single, “These Dreams.”
1997 – The RIAA announces the Eagles’ Greatest Hits has tied Michael Jackson’s Thriller as the all-time best selling album in America, with 24 million copies sold, though it lags far behind the landmark Jackson album’s worldwide sales tally of 46 million.
2000 – Shania Twain’s Come On Over is certified by the RIAA with sales of 17 million, making it the best-selling album by an individual female artist.
Events
1952 – The Moondog Coronation Ball is held at Cleveland Arena. It’s the first rock and roll stage show, featuring the Dominoes, Paul Williams, and Tiny Grimes.
1956 – Traveling to New York City to perform his Sun Records hit “Blue Suede Shoes” on NBC’s Perry Como Show, Carl Perkins and his band are involved in a horrendous automobile accident in Delaware. Carl suffers numerous fractures, while brother Jay breaks his neck. During his long recuperation, Perkins has the bittersweet experience of watching Elvis Presley perform “Blue Suede Shoes” on national television three times that year. Jay Perkins died of a brain tumor in 1958.
1957 – Elvis Presley pays $100,000 for a 23-room mansion at 3764 South Bellevue Blvd. in Memphis. The previous owner had dubbed the estate Graceland in honor of her great-aunt, and Presley keeps the name.
1967 – The Grateful Dead release their first album on Warner Brothers. It peaks at No. 37.
1969 – Clad in all-white down to their matching canvas tennis shoes, Beatle John Lennon and Japanese conceptual artist Yoko Ono are married in Gibraltar. The event is soon documented via their Wedding Album and the Beatles’ single “The Ballad of John and Yoko” (on which only Lennon and Paul McCartney perform). The couple’s extended honeymoon includes staging the first of their bed-ins for peace at the Amsterdam Hilton.
1970 – The Faces release First Step, their first album with ex-Jeff Beck Group members Rod Stewart and Ron Wood, who joined the band—formerly known as the Small Faces—after Steve Marriott left to form Humble Pie. It reaches only No. 119 on the Billboard charts.
1975 – Featuring a unique quintaphonic sound system, director Ken Russell’s pop-star-studded film version of the Who’s Tommy premieres. Ann-Margret and Pete Townshend are later Oscar-nominated for their work on the production.
1976 – David Bowie and Iggy Pop are arrested for possession of six ounces of marijuana at a hotel in Rochester, New York.
1977 – T. Rex play their last concert in Portsmouth, England.
1978 – A&M records signs the Police on the strength of their song “Roxanne,” which quickly becomes an iconic hit.
1982 – Guitarist Randy Rhoads, hairdresser Rachel Youngblood, and tour bus driver/pilot Andrew Aycock are killed when the private plane they are joyriding in crashes while repeatedly buzzing Ozzy Osbourne’s touring bus and the Florida mansion where his entourage is staying. The plane’s wing slices through the roof of the bus, causing it to careen into the home’s garage and explode. R&B singer Teddy Pendergrass is paralyzed from the waist down after his Rolls Royce hits a tree in Germantown, Philadelphia.
1991 – Eric Clapton’s four-year-old son Conor falls from the window of a 53rd floor apartment in New York City and dies. The following year Clapton releases the memorial song “Tears from Heaven,” which goes on to win Grammy Awards as Song and Record of the Year. Seven members of Reba McEntire’s touring band and her road manager are killed in a plane crash near San Diego, California.
1994 – Bruce Springsteen wins an Oscar for “Streets of Philadelphia,” his first song written specifically for a film (Philadelphia).
1995 – Singer/songwriter Suzanne Vega and producer Mitchell Froom wed in NYC.
2000 – The U.S. Postal Service issues a commemorative stamp picturing Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, famed home of the Grand Ole Opry for three decades.